Demonstrations in Tunisia as political purge continues

Tunisia's popular uprising has claimed its latest victim with the prime
minister announcing he will leave politics after elections planned for the
next six months, and no sign of a let up in demonstrations demanding a purge
of politicians linked to the country's ousted president.

It leaves the country on a knife edge with opposition supporters saying they will not stop their campaign until members of the old guard, once loyal to President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, have been removed from power and their cronies hunted down and put on trial.

In a TV interview, Mohamed Ghannouchi, the long serving prime minister, said he would quit "in the shortest possible timeframe" and give up politics after stepping down from the transitional government.

He was a key ally of the ousted president, a position that has meant he has struggled to restore calm under the new national unity government.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in the centre of the capital Tunis to demand further reforms. They were joined for the first time by police officers, who were blamed for shooting dozens of people as the protests gathered pace this month, marking a fresh turning point.

"We want people to know that we are with them now and that the brutality was carried out by ignorant policemen," said one officer among the protesters.

Tunisia's interim government, which took over after Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia nine days ago in the face of widespread popular unrest, has faced continued protests by demonstrators angry that former members of his RCD party remain in positions of authority.

The government says at least 78 people have been killed since the start of the uprising, while the United Nations has put the toll at about 100.

However, the tidal wave of change has not gone far enough for many, still angry at the Ben Ali family's appetite for property and wealth. Former prisoners are seeking a peace and reconciliation commission to examine past abuses.

Abdallah Sfax, who spent three months in prison for protesting against an official edict seizing half a hectare of land in Tunis, said he wanted his property restored. "I am free now to complain but that is not enough," he said. "I want my property back and more than that I want to look the people who imprisoned me in Burg al-Ami prison, which was a horrible hellhole, to face justice for treating me badly."

Ben Ali resigned and fled in disgrace to Saudi Arabia after 23 years in power, felled by a populist uprising against unemployment, corruption and poverty that quickly spiralled out of control despite a bloody crackdown.

The protests began when a young fruit seller set himself ablaze in the town of Sidi Bouzid in anger at local officials who had confiscated his handcart in order to demand "baksheesh", a bribe – as they did almost every week. Mohamed Bouazizi's suicide resonated with many ordinary Tunisians with dismal prospects in a country where many graduates struggle to find work, sparking an unstoppable torrent of anger.

Like many Arab leaders, Ben Ali styled himself as a bulwark against the spread of Islamic extremism and al Qaeda and enjoyed good ties with the West until the last days of the Tunisian uprising that unseated him this month.

Vigilante groups armed with iron bars and hammers have sprung up to patrol the streets at night and take part in demonstrations by day.

A curfew remains in place and a state of emergency has not been lifted and there is no date yet for university students to return to campuses – another potential flashpoint.

At the same time fears that a "mafia" linked to the presidential security service could go on the rampage as part of a fight-back from the old regime are running strong.

"We're not just here to defend our neighbourhood. We're protecting Tunisia," said Mongi, a member of a vigilante group set up in the Bardo neighbourhood in Tunis who has been nicknamed "The General" by residents.

"We have to defend the liberties that we have conquered," Mongi said.

Workers have taken over companies and state departments to defend their position and ensure new appointments do not reimpose state control.

"We are expecting a lot of change and don't want the old guard to steal our revolution away," said one Tunis office worker at Star Insurance, which was owned by Mr Ben Ali's son-in-law Sakher Materi, and who refused to give her name in fear of reprisals.

"There is an inbuilt bureaucracy here and this is not over. We hope that we will not return to the old domination by the yes men but we don't know and have to stand up for ourselves."

The revolutionary fervour that has swept Tunis leaves many people re-examining their complicity with the Ben Ali regime in order to get jobs and provide for their families. As the demonstrations intensified last week some were warning that events could spiral into a Chinese-style Cultural Revolution in which everything is destroyed.

Mouldi Mubarak, who was said to be Mr Ben Ali's favourite newspaper columnist, said: "The revolutionary conditions have been good but there is a danger it will undermine all society. It is very important to avoid cultural anarchy. Democracy will only work if we ensure that there is no anarchy."

Meanwhile, the family of Mohamed Bouazizi, the 26-year-old man whose death was the spark for a regime's downfall, visit his grave every day. Just outside the town of Sidi Bouzid it has become a pilgrimage site for opposition politicians and protesters.

His family say they are proud of the stand he took against local corruption.

"They offered us two billion dinar (£880m) not to bring his body back here for the funeral," said his older brother, Salem Bouazizi, 30. "They knew it would make things worse for them but there was no way we would sell our brother like that."

His mother, swathed in black and hunched over a charcoal burner against the winter chill in their tiny one-storey home, said Mohamed did not have a political bone in his body.

"He was not campaigning or looking to bring down the government," said Mannoubia Bouazizi, speaking in Arabic. "He was just one man with his handcart who had had enough. We are proud though of what he achieved. It means we can walk tall."

The reverberations from his death are still being felt throughout Tunisia as its people try to decide what comes next and how far the revolution will cut through society.